Weekend lunch date #MicroblogMonday

A new restaurant opened up in our area and hubby and I went to check it out recently. I had a tasty salad with goat's cheese and walnuts plus slices of garlic bread and apple.

And for dessert a yummy chocolate cake. I can't resist a chocolately dessert!

Have you had any nice meals lately ?

First Christmas with Mini

Flying with a baby went much better than last time. We choose an earlier flight and made sure she got her naps. On the plane before take off she started getting cranky and hubby and I were worried about how the flight would go but I managed to get her to sleep soon after. She breastfed a little but then stopped and then I cuddled and stroked her head until she nodded off. She then slept through the entire flight to Ireland which was perfect!

She still wasn't a big fan of car journies unfortunately so those were difficult but it wasn't as bad as last time. I ended up often having to let her watch youtube videos on my phone so she wouldn't get upset (Wheels on the Bus / Five Little Ducks / Old Mac Donald). We tried to make sure she got one or two naps each day depending on what was on the agenda and she was generally good humoured. Occasionally she got a bit overstimulated by the end of the day and she was also teething pretty bad so a few evenings she was a bit grumpy and took longer to go to sleep!

Mini is 10 months now and still too young to really appreciate or understand Christmas. We took her to meet Santa at my local shopping centre and she cried when I put her on his lap. Oh dear! However, she loved seeing the Christmas trees everywhere ( I would hold her up to one so she could feel the tinsel and lights) and going new places.

I just loved everyone getting to spend time with her again. She is such a fun little person already. She can say "mama" and "dada", wave and clap. She also already understands a few phases I say a lot such as "let's look out the WINDOW" and "would you like some MILK?" and "open the door!"

For my birthday I got a spa voucher and enjoyed a massage, facial and manicure. It was so relaxing. I celebrated the day by going for afternoon tea with my family. It was the perfect low key birthday for how I was feeling but maybe next year I'll try to organize something bigger. Having a birthday around Christmas always makes it really difficult to plan something as it's such a busy time for everyone!

There were just two things that didn't go so well on the trip. Hubby and I had a fight on Christmas day. I think it was the stress getting to us both. I do some baby led weaning with Mini and she started gagging/chocking on some turkey and hubby freaked out and lost his temper at me. It was scary and upsetting but she's fine thankfully. She had fallen earlier that day and I'd gotten cross at him for not watching her which had bothered him. We have both made new year resolutions to be kinder to one another and more of a parenting team again.

The other thing that bugged me was all the unwanted advice about our parenting we kept getting! People compliment Mini for being a very happy baby but then constantly tell us things like "you'll need to get her used to sleeping in her cot" when they hear we bedshare and that it's a "bad habit" that we usually lie next to her for naps. It made me feel defensive and frustrated as we are doing our best. Mini is a contact loving baby and my husband and I are fine with the situation - it works for our family- so why does it bother other people so much?

It was fun for me to spend time with family and relations again on the trip and the friends who were able to meet me. Unfortunately since the holidays are such a busy time, there were several people I didn't get to see. We're planning another trip back to Dublin in the Summer though. I felt a bit homesick when we were leaving. It's a pity I live so far away but my life is very much in Germany now and I can't see us moving. It was a lovely Christmas and I'm looking forward to when we travel over again to Dublin in the Summer and Mini can experience even more of Ireland and its culture.

Black Forest for the weekend

The great thing about having visitors when you live abroad is that it forces you to go on trips. Not that I need forcing as I love to travel and see new places but you know how it is, unless you actually make plans to go do stuff time passes quickly while you're busy with day to day life and you suddendly realise you've been living somewhere for ages and still haven't gotten around to go see the local tourist attractions or nearby cities.

So when my family came over last weekend we took the opportunity to explore some of what the Black Forest has to offer. We choose Triberg which is home to one of the highest waterfalls in Germany.

It was beautiful! Just to warn you though, the walk up to see it is very very steep! Wear comfortable walking shoes and be prepared. Then afterwards we had a nice lunch in a beer garden followed by some Black Forest cake, the local speciality.

My sister was hoping to do some shopping while she was over but I don't think these were the sort of stores she had in mind! The black forest shops were mainly full of traditional clothes and trinkets. If you are looking for wooden ornaments, Christmas decorations or cuckoo clocks though, this is the place to go!

When you are staying in the Black Forest region you get a guest card from your hotel which also gives you discounts at tourist sites and enables you to travel for free on buses and trains in the area. We bought a so called 'Baden Würtemberg ticket' for travelling there which covers you for all journeys in the region, just not on the really fast trains and it only cost 39€ for 5 people. The views from the train were also fantastic.

Apart from the hiking and walking around, eating cake and relaxing, there isn't actually loads to do in the black forest so for us two days was the ideal amount of time.

German cakes

German cakes and pastries.... they are the reason why I have gained about a stone since moving to Germany. Oh, and the fact I cannot stop myself from eating them!

But I am determined that this year I shall make more of an effort to exercise and stop eating so many cakes. Easier said than done of course. I need more willpower!

As long as I can remember I have had a sweet tooth. In restaurants I tend to read the dessert menu even before picking my main course. And I am lucky that I was naturally slim and able to eat what whatever I wanted and have never needed to diet. Since moving to Germany however, I am noticing that I cannot just eat absolutely anything without weight gradually creeping on.

It's actually also well known that moving in with your partner causes you to pile on the pounds. Women tend to match their dinner portions to their partner's, forgetting that men can get away with more calories and then there are the countless nights in on the sofa together or big fancy meals out. Add that to living in Germany with a bakery supplying delicious cakes and pastries on every corner and it's a recipe for... lots of fun times eating cake!